A man is accused in a several hour theft of a Mesa church's vans, trailers, and equipment.
Mesa police report that on July 25, a man, later identified as 34-year-old Martin Michael Burke, broke into a vehicle parked at the Central Christian Church near Lindsay and Brown roads.
He reportedly removed a jack from a car’s trunk and used it to pry open a garage door at the church.
Police say church surveillance video shows Burke going through several offices and prying open key boxes until he found the keys to two church vans.
Burke was later seen allegedly attaching trailers to two of the vans and filling the trailers with equipment.
Court paperwork reveals that, "over several hours, (Burke) stole two vans, two trailers, two golf carts, tools and four computers."
Police say Burke gained access to the golf carts by using a church truck to ram a fence.
The value of the items stolen or damaged is said to be about $100,000.
One van and trailer were located by a citizen who called police saying a van was blocking a driveway in a nearby neighborhood.
Burke was found by police still inside another van in another neighborhood about a half-mile away.
Burke, who was wearing an ankle monitoring device, was arrested and charged with car theft, criminal damage and burglary.
